Selbig maps out the road to the top

TRACI ANDERSON

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, March 14, 2004

Joe, an eighth grade student at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran School, is making his third trip to the state geography bee in April. While he's never made it to the final round at the state level, he's determined he will make it this year. Those that make it to the final round have the opportunity to go on to the national competition, which is in Washington, D.C.

To get to the state level, Joe won the geography bee at his school and received a medal and a certificate. He then took a qualifying test for the state level, which is graded. The top 100 in the state go on to the state competition, which is in Mount Pleasant.

At the state competition, the students are divided into groups of 20 for five preliminary rounds of competition. Eight sets of identical questions are asked in each group. The top 10 qualifiers from the preliminary round go to the final round. If more than 10 qualify, a tie-breaker round of questions is asked.

In the final round, the students can get two questions wrong before they are required to leave the competition.

Joe, joined by his parents Al and Mary, has seen what the final round is like. He's come very close to making it to the final round.

"I'm not really nervous," he said. "I know what they do now."

As a geography bee contestant, Joe answers questions in various categories, such as culture, economics, current events, history, and more, but all the categories have to do with geography and where places and things are located around the world.

Joe can't remember how he got interested in geography, his favorite subject. He just knows he likes it.

"I like looking at maps," he said.

To prepare for the contest, Joe looks at atlases and reads books with geography questions.

"My mom quizzes me," he said.

He said he likes going to the geography bees because he likes to meet other students from around the state. He said he's seen many of the same students in the previous two years he's went to the state competition.

When he's not studying geography, Joe likes to play soccer and likes computer games. He sometimes uses computers to study geography.

Joe also spends time with his sister, Shaina.

"She doesn't like geography," he said with a smile.

Along with his parents, Joe said his teacher, Jon Biedenbender, has helped him prepare for the geography bees he's competed in.